Time is money, there’s no way around it. If your employees are spending valuable time performing manual labor-intensive projects, your business is wasting money and time waiting for results.

Enter digital transformation.

Digital transformation is essentially the integration of digital technology into business processes to improve work and business outcomes. The idea behind it is to enhance how your company does business so you can boost productivity, save resources, and eliminate inefficiencies and flaws associated with human error.

Here are four ways to use digital transformation to take your business to the next level:

Data Capture

Data capture is the automatic identification and collection of an object’s data. This data gathered through optical or audio technology is converted to a digital format and entered into a computer system, sans human involvement. A great example of data capture in action is the conversion of a paper document into an editable, digital formats like PDF or Microsoft Word or Excel. Manual data entry is often error-prone and time-consuming. Automating this activity eliminates both of these issues and allows you to add data gathered to your digital workflow, boosting productivity, increasing efficiency and saving valuable resources at the same time.

The Cloud

As 90% of organizations use the cloud in some way, you’ve probably heard of it before. The cloud is a massive, online server that allows employees to securely access company documents anywhere and anytime. Thus, it maximizes collaboration, productivity, and efficiency in a business setting. Cloud technology also helps control access to documents and data belonging to your company and your customers. It’s no wonder that 50% of businesses using the cloud cite it as their preferred digital transformation solution.

Artificial Intelligence

AI technologies can help your business automate processes and reduce the amount of time it takes to perform a variety of key functions. Depending on your industry and operational requirements, there are a few examples that are accessible through a range of business software tools and platforms:

Machine Learning: A branch of AI that uses algorithms to find patterns in data in order to predict outcomes and classify data. A more in-depth write-up on how machine learning can add value to your business can be found here.

Robotic Process Automation: Artificial intelligence that uses scripts and other forms of communication to automate human support. For instance, when you receive a generated reply in regards to your email inquiry or when a robot directs your call.

There are a variety of other AI approaches that can help your business embrace digital transformation.

Blockchain

It’s both cumbersome and risky a pain to send multiple versions of sensitive documents back and forth between colleagues. There’s a large margin for human error, and it takes time to make sure you’re updating the right document(s). Blockchain is here to eliminate these headaches. Essentially, blockchain is a continuously growing database of records (aka, blocks) that are linked together using cryptography. Each block is timestamped, making it easy to track edits.

“50%of financial organizations see mainstream adoption of blockchain by 2020.” That’s fast growth, but not surprising as the new technology is already revolutionizing the way financial organizations are recording transaction histories.

Digitally Transform Your Business

With so many options out there, it can be hard to know where to start when it comes to selecting the right digital transformation tactics for your business. We specialize in helping businesses determine processes that they can implement and update in order to boost productivity and save resources. If you’re interested in learning more about how digital transformation can benefit your business, reach out today.